satnav

This news apparently surprised me. Not sure how I came across it but a rx fell off a 4th floor dark park and the roof didn't collapse. Anyone else surprised? To be honest I didn't think the RX body was this sturdy.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/2...ews+Now+-+News)

Cruiter

I rotated the image right side up to get a better idea of all the safety systems at work. The knee bag that inflated under the steering wheel must have had quite a bit to do with escaping serious injury's. I'm more impressed than surprised. And good news re: the integrity of the cabin.

Clutchless

The roof is much lower in the front section than is normal. I would say the roof did not completely collapse, but it did suffer some damage and is at least a few inches lower in the front section. The B pillar behind the driver door is bent over and down a couple inches. The steep angle of the front "A" pillars do not provide as much support. Look at the roof height inside the car as it is lower and different than normal. Still not bad for fall 4 stories on the roof. The passengers were lucky.

The government roof crush test is a slowly applied platform to the front corner up to 3 times the car's weight. Real life accidents are often much more forceful.

I worked for several years for an expert witness group specializing in car and other transportation accidents and we had former NHTSA, NTSB and CPSC engineers as experts plus a couple of accident reconstruction experts. I have seen a lot of roll over roof crush accidents and it really is luck of the draw if you walk away or are paralyzed or killed.

kitlz

Pretty amazing story. I'm glad the driver was ok. My SA told me about someone who rolled over an earlier gen RX. I don't know how many times or the speed at the time but they came out without a scratch. I park in a six story garage at work with the entrance on the third level and am very conscious when I pull into my spot.

vlad_a

Hope Toyota doesn't get blamed again for "unintended acceleration".

Interesting that none of the doors got stuck and had to be cut open. I wonder if the seatbelt pretentioner fired off.

JT4

Amazing that the 79 yr old driver was able to literally walk away from that.. Glad she was ok..

Clutchless

Pedal confusion is the source of almost all unintended acceleration cases.

vlad_a

Said Audi in the 80s and lost its major market share in US.

Cruiter

That was when Porsche and Audi were a 'together' brand like Lincoln and Mercury used to be. After that tho I made my move to Acura. But later 60 minutes walked it's story back admitting they were wrong after the US courts found it was driver error (driver foot on throttle instead of brake). It did bring an end tho to the Audi 5000 which was a good driving car for the money.

JDR76

My aunt and uncle had one. Great car. Until it drove through their garage and into their family room...